Andersonville by Mackinlay Kantor

Andersonville by Mackinlay Kantor

Acclaimed as the greatest novel ever written about the War Between the States, this searing Pulitzer Prize-winning book captures all the glory and shame of America's most tragic conflict in the vivid, crowded world of Andersonville, and the people who lived outside its barricades. Based on the author's extensive research and nearly 25 years in the making, MacKinlay Kantor's bestselling masterwork tells the heartbreaking story of the notorious Georgia prison where 50,000 Northern soldiers suffered--and 14,000 died--and of the people whose lives were changed by the grim camp where the best and the worst of the Civil War came together. Here is the savagery of the camp commandant, the deep compassion of a nearby planter and his gentle daughter, the merging of valor and viciousness within the stockade itself, and the day-to-day fight for survival among the cowards, cutthroats, innocents, and idealists thrown together by the brutal struggle between North and South. A moving portrait of the bravery of people faced with hopeless tragedy, this is the inspiring American classic of an unforgettable period in American history.

Acclaimed as the greatest novel ever written about the War Between the States, this searing Pulitzer Prize-winning book captures all the glory and shame of America's most tragic conflict in the vivid, crowded world of Andersonville, and the people who lived outside its barricades. Based on the author's extensive research and nearly 25 years in the making, MacKinlay Kantor's bestselling masterwork tells the heartbreaking story of the notorious Georgia prison where 50,000 Northern soldiers suffered--and 14,000 died--and of the people whose lives were changed by the grim camp where the best and the worst of the Civil War came together. Here is the savagery of the camp commandant, the deep compassion of a nearby planter and his gentle daughter, the merging of valor and viciousness within the stockade itself, and the day-to-day fight for survival among the cowards, cutthroats, innocents, and idealists thrown together by the brutal struggle between North and South. A moving portrait of the bravery of people faced with hopeless tragedy, this is the inspiring American classic of an unforgettable period in American history.

Novelist, journalist, and screenwriter MacKinlay Kantor began his career in 1928, writing pulp fiction pieces for magazines of the day. His first novel, Long Remember, published in 1934, was set during the Battle of Gettysburg and began the author's lifelong interest in the Civil War. During World War II, Kantor served as a war correspondent in Europe, chronicling such events as the American bombing campaign against Germany and the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp. After the war, Kantor resumed his creative writing career. His novel Glory for Me (1945), written in blank verse, was the basis for the screenplay for the successful Hollywood film The Best Years of Our Lives, which won 7 Academy Awards. His novel Andersonville, about the notorious Confederate prison camp, won the 1956 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. By the time of his death in 1977, he had authored more than 30 books, including four works for young readers.